Huzzah! It’s the Victoria Line’s birthday today, which was opened by the Queen on the 7th March 1969.
The line runs from Walthamstow Central to Brixton – a total of 21km (13.3 miles) – and serves 16 stations, with the Brixton end being laid out as a two-track terminus with a scissors crossover north of the station.
Because stations are further apart than many underground lines, Victoria line trains can reach giddy speeds of up to 50mph, so that on a good day it can take just 32 minutes to traverse the entire line.
(Sept 2000 view of Brixton station before its lengthy – and I mean lengthy – refurbishment)
The first deep-level Underground line to be built across central London since the ‘tube boom’ of 1905-1907, the Victoria line opened in stages between 1968 and 1971.
Brixton station is younger than the northern stations, with the southern extension not being opened by the ever-obliging Queen until July 23, 1971.
Tantalisingly, the line continues for a short distance south of the station platforms where many have dreamt of an extension to Herne Hill or – rather improbably – Streatham, but for now the two tracks are used as sidings for stabling trains overnight.
Read a ton of facts about Brixton station here.
[Tube facts] – [Brixton stats]
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